Part 22

The earth is tilted by an angle of 23 degrees, which is so for good reasons. Had the carth not been oblique, the two poles would have been in constant twilight, the water vapour from oceans would be moving northward and southward, causing on its way the formation of continents of ice, and may be deserts between the equator and the ice. Ice rivers would, in this case, form and pour forth along vallcys to gather in salt-covered oceans, forming temporary salinas. The huge mass of ice would weigh down the poles so heavily that it would cause bulging or eruption at the equator; or at least a different equator would have formed. Besides, the drop in the level of ocean would expose great arcas of land, diminish the amount of rainfall all over the world, leading to devastating consequences.

Consider, then, the sun’s moyement upwards and downwards relative Lo the earth, a movement that results in the changing of times and seasons, which realizes various benefits and functions. If it were just one season all the time all the benefits that accrue from the other seasons would be missed —if it were invariably summer, then the benefits of winter would be missed; and if it were winter, the benefits of summer would be missed. And so it would be if it were autumn all the time or spring all the time.

In winter, heat is stored in cavities, the depths of the earth and the mountains, and this results in the sprouting of the fruitful plants and other plants. The surface is

cooled, and the air is humid, which results in the formation of clouds, rain, snow and hail, all essential for the living earth and its inhabitants; the animals’ bodies are strengthened and empowered, nature’s forces are enhanced and bodies recuperate after their sapping and debilitation in the summer heat.

In spring new life sprouts, and the seeds of the winter bud and blossom; new flowers sprout, trees bloom with blossoms, and animals search for chances of mating.

In summer the air is quite warm, often scorching, so fruits ripen, bodies shed their waste and the humours that had gathered during the winter; cold diminishes and withdraws to cavities, cooling springs and wells; the stomach is unable to digest heavy food that it used to digest during the winter, which it was able to digest with the heat preserved in the bellies; while in summer that heat has come out to the surface of the body and the cold has been absorbed and sunk inside.

When autumn comes, temperature moderates, air is purified and cooled, the seething heat is softened; autumn is thus destined by Allah in His wisdom to be midway between the extreme heat of summer and the biting cold of winter; in this way an animal does not have to shift all at once from extreme heat to extreme cold, a shift which would harm it and cause it a lot of suffering, while it is not so when the change is gradual: the animal adjusts to new stages of change gradually, and is more primed to receive a bigger amount of change until the extreme cold has come, with the animal well adapted to it and resigned to it, which is a compelling wisdom and a glowing sign of the Lord’s mercy. The same is true of the spring which is midway between the winter and the summer; in it the animal adapts to the changes from cold to heat in small increments that come successively and according to a

careful design. Glorified be Allah, Lord of the Worlds, the best of creators.

Reflect on the wisdom implied in the rising of the sun over the world, how that is designed by the Proud, the Knowing, may His Name be glorified. If it were, after reaching a certain spot in the sky, to stay there, its rays would not reach so many regions, because the shade of the globe would block its reaching the other side; it would be an everlasting night in those regions, and it would be an everlasting daylight in regions exposed to the sun; inhabitants in both parts would have their life completely disrupted. But the Lord, in His great providence and mercy, has willed that the sun should rise to start the day in the east, shining on the opposite western horizon; then it should go on progressing along its curving route, shining on region after region, until it reaches the west, where it should shine over regions that were inaccessible at the start of the day. In this way, people in those regions will have the alternation of day and night, which is essential for them to undertake their chores.

The light of the sun and the light of the moon

Regard the sun and the moon, what they possess of light and illumination; consider how the Lord willed that they should have stages and phases, shifting from one to one, something that realizes the progressing of the year to its completion, and realizes for the creation advantages that they cannot do without for their survival. It is by this that times are calculated; the times for debts, the duration of leases, transactions, accounts and the like. If it were not for the shifting of the sun and moon from phase to phase, all that would not be possible. That is what the Almighty calls attention to in various places in His Book, such as:

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[o: oy] 46/55 BM SHY Hs Gi GEcSag

“He it is Who appointed the sun a splendour and the

moon a light, and measured for her stages, that you might

know the number of the years, and the reckoning. Allah

created not all that save in truth. He details the revelations for people who have knowledge.” (10: 5)

STRAT fe A teen eee Seen Oren ee tae Se ve Sas i oe BIR ES Js BES Ce SHG JT hz > fo aeecs oe ee eee ge ke eet 1S ot BS CLL Seal Sie YL GS

“And we appoint the night and the day two portents. Then We make dark the portent of the night, and We make the portent of the day sight-giving, that you may seek bounty from your Lord, and that you may know the computation of the years, and the reckoning; and everything have We expounded with a clear expounding.”

The rising and setting of the sun and the moon

Reflect on the rising and setting of the sun and the moon for establishing the alternation of the day and the night. Without their rising, life would not be possible — how could people go about earning their living, looking after their interests, when the world is in darkness? How could they enjoy life without light? Consider also the wisdom implied in their setting: without that people would not be able to rest and settle with all the pressing need for sleep and for the resting of the senses, for the activation of internal forces that take control during sleep to facilitate the digestion of food and the distribution of nutrients to

organs. Without the setting of the sun, too, the earth would get too hot because of the continuity of the heat of the sun and its rays, until every living animal or plant is scorched. As it is, the sun rises the way a lantern is lighted for the residents of a house to go about their work, then it is put out, so that the residents settle down and relax. The light of day and_ the dark of night, with their alternating heat of the former and the cool of the latter, are coordinated and integrated, in a way that they may realize the interests of the world. These facts have been indicated in the Qur’an in the following verses:

oath 5 A BE HF Sy A pea ait Key BP Sy \Sa5e GIN pele ait Se & of ES SO GALIST toe,

4a I hs SKS Sh Each ail 2 OY SH acait LF [VY CVV: yeaalt]

“Say: have you thought, if Allah made night everlasting for you till the Day of Resurrection, who is a God beside Allah who could bring you light? Will you not then hear?

Say: Have you thought, if Allah made day everlasting for you till the Day of Resurrection, who is a God beside Allah who could bring you night wherein you rest? Will you not then see?” (28: 71-72)

In the above verses, the Almighty mentions vision in association with the day, because it is the time for vision, as seeing is dominant and operative during the day; while He mentions hearing in association with the night, as hearing is dominant at night, when animals can hear what they cannot hear by day, night being a time of quiet and inactivity, so that hearing is in control and seeing is secondary, while by day it is the other way round: vision is

in control and hearing is secondary. Therefore, when the Qur’anic verse says: 4h 2 5h >

‘Will you not then hear?’ it is referring to

[V\ 5 Geeall ] am

‘Say: have you thought, if Allah made night everlasting for you till the Day of Resurrection, who is a God beside Allah

who could bring you light?’;and when it says: oi GI

‘Will you not then see?’, it is referring to

‘Say: Have you thought, if Allah made day everlasting for you till the Day of Resurrection, who is a God beside Allah who could bring you night wherein you rest?”

In another chapter the Almighty says:

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“Blessed be He Who has placed in the heaven mansions of the stars, and has placed therein a great lamp and a moon giving light! And He it is Who has appointed night and day in succession, for him who desires to remember, or desires thankfulness.” (25: 6162)

The Almighty mentions the day and night as alternatives, each alternating with the other, never coinciding with the other; for if they do coincide, the benefit of having them alternating and different would be missed. This is in fact the reason for having the day and

The moon is a celestial body that orbits the earth; it has a diameter of 3,475 km. It revolves around the earth from west to east in 29 days, 44 minutes and two seconds. The sun shines on the side of the moon that faces it. The moon is not an axisrotating planet, and that is the reason we see the same side of it all the time.

the night as different times, and having them alternating with each other, never intersecting or going parallel with the other: each invades the other, pushing it back persistently, until it replaces it altogether; and then the other follows the other, chasing it persistently, until it defeats it and pushes it back, dethroning it from its dominance; then the same process goes on like this, each chasing the other, and never catching up with it.